July 31, 2005, 8:14PM
Enjoying a French interlude
By SHELBY HODGE
Since everyone who is anyone is any place but Houston these sweltering months, it comes as no surprise that a duo of our town's fabu femmes chose the South of France for July birthday celebrations.
Lynn Wyatt bested the entire summer birthday scene both here and abroad by celebrating on the Cote d'Azure not once but twice. And during the second round, her long-time chum Elton John crooned an original birthday tribute created for her.
Elton, his partner David Furnish and Lily Safra, the zillionaire hostess and benefactress, invited 35 of Wyatt's European friends and family to La Leopolda, Safra's gilded villa in Beaulieu-sur-Mer, for a surprise birthday dinner on the terrace, under the stars, overlooking the Mediterranean. Ooo, la, la.
The birthday girl's hubby, Oscar Wyatt, and three of their four sons — Houstonian Brad; Steven there from Washington, D.C., with wife Cate; and Trey in from Aruba with fianceé Mervin Ras — were all there to toast the lady of the hour.
* Brad, now back in the saddle at Geo. H. Lewis & Sons, reports that the evening was absolutely splendid —including the multitiered, 4-foot-tall birthday cake detailed in crystallized sugar with the names of all 35 guests.
The piéce de résistance, Brad adds, came when Elton rose to toast the honoree. He went to the piano at the edge of the dining area and sang his tribute — whose lyrics and tune he had composed on the back of his menu card while everyone else was wining and dining. He presented the menu card to Lynn, then requested she loan it back him so he could record the song on CD as a more permanent birthday gift.
Among the glittery party contingent — Prince Talal and Princess Ghida of Jordan, famed architect Lord Norman Foster and Lady Elena, British philanthropist Dame Vivian Duffield, Sir Roger Moore and wife Christina, and June Newton, widow of famed photographer Helmut Newton.
A few days prior to the Safra soiree, Lynn and Oscar hosted her annual birthday bash at their summer home on the Riviera. Last week, Women's Wear Daily reported in breathless detail on the "Texas cowboy chic" hoe-down attended by Prince Albert of Monaco, Jerry Hall with Spiros Niarchos, Shirley Bassey, Joan Collins and many, many more. All dining on the Wyatts' French chef's interpretation of Tex-Mex. Guacamole and chips, anyone?
* Geo. H. Lewis & Sons Funeral Directors, Houston, TX 77057
Texas tycoon Oscar Wyatt, who had tried to save Saddam from U.S. force before the first Gulf War. The records allege that Mr. Wyatt and his company took 71.8 million barrels of oil under Oil for Food for a profit of $22.8 million.